


Scrabbled

by wackyjacqs



Series: Bizarre Holidays [104]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Episode: s07e21-22 Lost City, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-13 03:07:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18460208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wackyjacqs/pseuds/wackyjacqs
Summary: “Sir?”“Yeah?”“Are you feeling alright?”Slowly, he opens his eyes and looks straight at her, but it’s almost as if he’s also looking straight through her and Sam instinctively knows something is wrong.





	Scrabbled

**Author's Note:**

> Written for ‘Scrabble Day’ (13 April). This is based on a fic I wrote _years_ ago, but it has now been reworked and changed – hopefully for the better. It is a multi-chapter, of which all are written, but for now, you’re only getting the first one… sorry! :)
> 
> Missing scene for season 7 ‘Lost City’, set shortly after the team is at Jack’s house and Hammond has told them he’s been relieved of command.

Sam hovers by the front door and waves goodbye to her teammates until Daniel’s car disappears from view. As she turns to head back into the house, she can’t help the chuckle that escapes; even after all these years, Daniel is still a cheap date.

“Do you think Daniel will regret drinking all those beers tomor–” She trails off and frowns when she finds the living room empty. “Sir?”

Greeted by silence, she decides to forgo cleaning up the empty pizza boxes and beer bottles in favor of finding her commanding officer. The sliding door at the far side of the room is still closed, so she assumes he isn’t in the yard and goes to the kitchen, only to discover he isn’t there either.

“Sir?”

There’s no verbal response, but she hears a dull thud from further down the hallway and it tells her everything she needs to know. She stops outside his bedroom and seeing the door is ajar, hesitates over whether or not she should go any further.

“Colonel, is everything okay?”

When he doesn’t answer, Sam’s concern increases and overrules any misgivings she might have. She knocks on the door before she pushes it open and she finds him lying on the bed, facing away from her. She feels like she is intruding, but she makes her way over to him. His eyes are closed and she carefully reaches out, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Sir?” she whispers.

“Yeah?”

“Are you feeling alright?”

Slowly, he opens his eyes and looks straight at her, but it’s almost as if he’s also looking straight through her and Sam instinctively knows something is wrong.

But he doesn’t answer her question. Instead, he pushes himself into a sitting position and swings his legs over the edge of the bed.

“Take a load off,” he sighs, gesturing to the space to his left. Sam follows his order and sits down, her leg brushing against his.

"Is everything okay, sir?"

“Just peachy, Carter,” he snorts.

She grimaces. She’s all-too-aware that it was a ridiculous question to ask, but suddenly she feels uncomfortable.

"I should go," she says by way of apology and moves to stand but she doesn’t get far before Jack grabs her wrist.

"You can stay."

She nods and sits back down when he doesn’t release his hold on her.

“Sir,” she hesitates. “Before Daniel and Teal’c –”

“Interrupted?”

She flashes a half-smile as he looks at her knowingly and nods. “What I wanted to say was that I –”

“I know.”

She frowns at the colonel’s own interruption and he suddenly looks apologetic.

“My head’s scrambled,” he shrugs. “But the things I want to say… they just won’t come out.”

“Oh.”

Suddenly, she understands and a part of her is relieved that he didn’t cut her off because he didn’t want to hear what she had to say, but the other part of her is saddened because it’s another harsh reminder of the sacrifice he’s made for Earth.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers, giving his hand a squeeze.

She feels him return the gesture before he mumbles, “I have a headache.”

She’s surprised by his admission, because she can count on one hand the number of times her CO has admitted he’s been in pain before, so she knows it must be one hell of a headache.

"Have you taken –"

"No. They wouldn't help anyway; that headsucker's a bitch."

Sam’s lips quirk into a small smile before the colonel suddenly squeezes his eyes shut and pinches the bridge of his nose with his free hand. Of its own volition, her hand pulls free from his vice-like grip and she reaches over, her fingers gently touching his temple before they slide into his hair.

When Jack turns to look at her, his gaze flicks down to her lips and he starts to say something, only to stop. Without thinking, Sam leans in to place a kiss on his cheek, but then he turns his head at the last second, causing their lips to meet. The kiss only lasts for a few seconds, before they break apart.

"You should get some rest," she whispers softly, thankful her voice sounds somewhat steady.

"Hm."

She gives his hand one final squeeze before she leaves the room, but just as she’s about to close the door, she hears a heavy sigh escape the colonel.

* * *

Sam uses the next hour to tidy the house from the team’s earlier impromptu get-together. She’s in the middle of wiping down the kitchen worktop when she hears a noise come from the living room. Pausing in the doorway, she watches as Jack pulls the coffee table towards the armchair and starts to set up what looks like a Scrabble board.

"Are you feeling better, sir?"

"Not really."

"Oh."

She doesn’t move, but continues to watch as he grabs the bag of letter tiles and tips them unceremoniously onto the board before he proceeds to piece words together. They aren’t situated the way the game rules state: rather, each word is created separately, as if they are part of a sentence.

Sam’s gaze shifts from the board to the colonel’s face and she frowns. It’s almost as if his actions are deliberate – spelling out a message. There’s a distant look in his eye, not so dissimilar to the one he sported the last time the Ancient repository started to take over his mind, and she quickly moves into the room to stand by his side.

“Sir,” she begins carefully. “Do we need to get you back to the SGC?”

"I don't know, Carter," he answers harshly. "I just – I can't explain it, but I _need_ to do this."

Taking a deep breath, she nods and balances on the arm of the chair. She studies the board but the words make no sense, and when she risks a glance at her CO she wonders if the download is taking over at a more accelerated rate than before.

She forces her attention back to the words.

_Abicierum._

_Deserde._

_Puta._

Suddenly, the colonel’s hand lands on her knee and she jumps. He’s watching her intently.

“What – what does this mean?”

“I don’t know,” he grimaces as he runs his other hand across the back of his neck. “Well, I do. Sort of, but – look, Sam, if I don’t – if you can’t find a way to get _this_ outta _here_ –” he says, gesturing vaguely to his head.

“We will find a way.”

“– but if you don’t,” he continues. “Promise me that you’ll ask Daniel about this. He’ll know what it means.”

She follows his gaze back to the board and nods, etching every word deep into her memory, because even though she will do everything she can to save Jack, she also can’t ignore the growing sense of foreboding that she’s about to lose him.


End file.
